Marines, Army more than meet their recruiting goals

Combat forces raise their standards, require enlistees to wait

Joel Gonzalez, an 18-year-old Mar Vista High School graduate, enlisted in the Marine Corps in May. He heads to boot camp in March after a 10-month wait. In the interim he applied for jobs with restaurants and anyone who was hiring, but eventually gave up.

He doesn’t mind the long wait for boot camp, he said. “I have some time to get ready. I work out pretty much every day — running, pushups, weights, pull-ups, crunches.”

When the Marines of Company L of the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion marched into place Friday for graduation, Staff Sgt. Janet Marrufo, 26, was there to congratulate four of her recruits.

Marrufo is tough on her “poolees” waiting to ship to boot camp — her physical fitness drills usually make at least one recruit vomit from exertion. It is all part of the process to help them become reborn from civilian to Marine, she said.

“We offer that mental and physical challenge,” she said. “Whether they get out in four years or 20 years, they will maintain that high standard, which in the end will make them successful citizens.”